Allie and Kyle Firsts: Christmas

I suspected that this Christmas would be a special one since it was our first Christmas as a married couple, and it certainly turned out that way.

Our Christmas Eve morning started off perfectly slow and cozy. We stayed in our pajamas until noon watching movies and drinking coffee. I cherish these moments so much. I never feel more blessed than when we enjoy quiet mornings at the apartment. During these times, neither of us feel hurried to be somewhere else, we aren't worried about work, and we can just relax and enjoy being together.

Later that night, we went over to my parents house, and later my family and Kyle's met up for Mexican food and the 11 p.m. candlelight service at First Methodist. The church service was a peaceful reminder of God's grace and love. Even though we have heard the Christmas story thousands of times, Kyle and I left the church feeling so much more thankful for Christ's selflessness for sending us His son to save to the world. We are so glad that we have First Methodist as our church home.

After we left church, we headed back to my parents for a big family slumber party. All of the kids, plus their significant others, crammed into 2 of the upstairs bed rooms... it definitely felt like the days we used to wait for Santa. We woke up on Christmas morning, downed 3 pots of coffee, ate plenty of biscuits and gravy and pancakes, and opened gifts. And while the family transitioned into nap time, Kyle and I headed over to Katie and Lance's for the Schielack Christmas. We had so much fun exchanging gifts and watching Karly open her presents from Nonnie and Poppy. After all of the gifts were opened, we all prepared for the Christmas night party. At 7 o'clock my family came over, and we played a rowdy game of bunco. It was so nice to have both families together, and I couldn't be more thankful that our families are friends.



Our first Christmas as the Schielacks



Bailey the reindeer